The basics You have a thriving business: everything is in place. Only one important piece of marketing is lost: an internet presence, a website. Like everything in business, getting a website takes planning. Getting an effective website requires even more planning. Here are some basic things to know and plan for: The WWW What is the www or the Internet? Basically, a network of websites from around the world that you can access through your computer, for which you need an Internet connection and a browser. Internet connections are available through ISPs, and most popular browsers are free downloads from the Internet. Just like writing/typing an address on a postal envelope, you type the website address into your browser that begins with http://www. and ending with .com, .net, .org, .biz, .nz, .uk, etc. So if you want to access the Microsoft website, type http://www.microsoft.com in the browser and voila! You get all the information about Microsoft and its products in your browser. Simply click on the available links and you’ll be on your way. Your website Your website will be a bunch of pages, all linked together by hyperlinks. Of course, you can have a one page website or as many pages as you like, depending on how much information you want to share with your visitors. Hyperlinks are text or images that point to another page, just like the header of this article points to my website. Your Audience As the web has grown, so have the types of people who access it and how they access it. As we say, it is impossible to please everyone. It is very difficult to design a website that is accessible to everyone. Choose your content and layout carefully, keeping in mind who your target audience is and what type of equipment they use. Equipment here means the computer and other hardware and also includes the software used to connect to and browse the Internet. The best way to reach more people is to use pure HTML and keep your use of scripting languages like JavaScript, Java, and other plugins to a minimum. While this may not make your site flashy, elegant, or modern, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that your site is accessible to most people. After all, that is the point of this exercise, right? Designing your website means knowing your audience and their requirements. Content Now that the introductions are over, let’s move on to the core of your website: the content. The most important aspect of any website, content is the one thing that will keep your visitors on your site and keep bringing them back. The content should depend on what you want your visitors to know: about the company, the products, the services. Keep content interesting by updating it frequently for repeat visitors. This can often mean providing more detail on different aspects of your business, such as seasonal discounts, etc. Your visitors will visit your site again and again if the content is relevant and there is something new each time they visit. Design A well-designed website will be successful. Whether you design the site yourself or outsource the task to a web designer like us, lay out your ideas on paper first. Choose your text, color and graphics carefully, they all contribute to page load time. Starting with your home page, keep it loading fast, with a good navigation structure. Try to follow the same design for the entire website. Change the layout only for different sections and not for different pages. If the navigation bar is at the top of your home page, keep it at the top of all other main pages. Consistency in design is very, very important. These are just some of the basics of building a website. There are many more, some that require an article about themselves. Keep visiting as I plan to write about as many as I can. You can of course email me your suggestions/comments on what you would like to read about web development.
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